Page 329 - PERSIAN 5 1905_1911

AND THE MASKAx POLITICAL AGENCY FOR TIIE YEAR 1900. 29
50. No difficulty worthy of mention arose during the period now being
dealt with in the affairs of the Syndicate
Oil Syndicate.
with the Khans.
There seems no reason to question that this happy state of affairs, con­
trasting so strongly with the experience of previous years, is to he directly,
attributed to the withholding of the instalment of guard money due in
November 19'07, and the introduction of the Indian Oil Guard, two actions
which respectively testified to our complete unsusccptibility to intimidation,
and our firm determination to employ all reasonable measures to secure tho
safety of British subjects in the pursuit of their legitimate business
interests.
51. The question of the retention of the Indian Guard has been already
referred to in paragraph 4. It is only necessary to add that there has been
no .active improvement in the attitude of the Khans or the efficiency of their
guards, and petty losses by theft have continued to occur from time to time.
Compensation for such losses incurred up to the 30th June, was recovered by
deduction from the instalment paid to the Khans on 15th November 1908, the
Khans having failed to make payment in cash.
52. Rumours were current in August that the Khans were contempla­
ting selling their shares in the Oil concern. These shares are as a matter of
fact not yet in their possession, nor indeed as far as is known in existence.
Reference was made on the subject to the Legation who recommended
that the Khans should be advised against such a course, as it was of impor­
tance for the security of the work that they should be directly interested in
its prosperity. It was apparently considered impossible to prohibit the
Khans from selling their shares when opportunity arose, or to compel them
to sell them to the British or Indian Governments.
53. The Sardar Mukarram having recovered his position after his tern- Lurutaa.
porary imprisonment by Nazar Ali Khan, appears to have maintained it till
about the time of the coup d'etat at Tehran. lie was then replaced by the
Amir Afkham, the head of the well known llamadan family.
The Amir’s attention and endeavours have been chiefly directed to the
attempt to collect the revenue. On the whole he appears to have kept on good
terms with Nazar Ali Khan, whose assistance he enjoyed in extracting pay­
ment from some sections of the Bavanwand and Hassanwand.
54. The revenue of Luristan, which used to be assessed at 60,000 tomans,
was raised by the Salar-ud-Dowleh to 123,000. The Amir Afkham has fixed
his ambitions on 73,000 tomans.
The system appears to be for the Governor to obtain “ Sanads ” (under­
takings) from one or more substantial individuals for the whole or sections of
the revenue, and these individuals when necessary receive such armed
assistance as the Governor can dispose of to coerce recalcitrant tribes into
paying. It may be safely assumed that only a fraction of the revenue demand
is actually collected.
55. During tlic summer the Kakawand Lurs were responsible for many
depredations on the Kermanshah-Hamadan road. This tribe are dependants
or supporters, but not subjects, of Nazar Ali Khan, Fath-us-Sultan, and
he was called on to take retributory measures against them, especially in
regard to the robbery of Mr. and Mrs. Stead of the Hamadan American
Mission. Up to the middle of November he had failed to take satisfactory
action.
The Fath-us-Sultan’s new title, Sardar Akram, assumed at the time of
his capture of the Sardar Mukarram, is said to have been subsequently
confirmed.
50. Nothing of special interest has occurred during the year in the Puiht-i.Kuli.
affairs of Pusht-i-Kuh.
No attempt has been made by the Turks to wipe out the disgrace which
their arms suffered in the preceding year at the hands of the Wali, and the
border has been perfectly quiet.